“A wonderful spontaneity and freshness”
Joel Smirnoff
“A strong and unique personality, a very original sound quality, reminiscent of the masters of the Golden Age – a strong instinct for Music”
Emmanuel Hondré
“A style of his own, somewhat reminiscent of the great violinists of the Golden Age of the 20th century. A very natural playing with contagious qualities. A highly creative and magnetic musical personality”
Glenn Dicterow
“Thomas Lefort definitely has his own style. He recalls an earlier era and an older way of playing the violin and making music.”
Philip Setzer
“His playing is highly inspired, with great flair, singer-like qualities, and a distinctive personal voice.”
Hagai Shaham
“A marvelous style of virtuosity with an original character that is very special and truly unique.”
Kyoko Takezawa
“A very interesting musician with his own ideas and style. Thomas Lefort takes an almost operatic approach, which is so rare among young performers today.”
Maxim Vengerov
“Unusual music in the most wonderful way, an authentic musician with absolute originality and sincerity. His playing is dignified, generous, with great poise and warmth.”
Jian Wang
Noticed at the age of 13 by Ivry Gitlis, Thomas Lefort became his disciple until Gitlis’ passing, sharing an intense and deeply connected companionship with him, both musically and personally. Comfortable in all repertoires, he now carries forward the legacy and musical generosity of the last great violin legend to have spanned the 20th century.
Born in 1994 in Marseille, he studied with Frédéric Ladame before training under Suzanne Gessner and Patrice Fontanarosa in Paris. In 2012, he was unanimously accepted into the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in Roland Daugareil’s class, graduating with the highest distinctions and earning a First Prize in violin. He then refined his skills in Italy with violinist Salvatore Accardo at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena and the Walter Stauffer Academy in Cremona, where he immersed himself in the secrets of the Italian violin school and developed a passion for the dazzling virtuosity of Niccolò Paganini’s works. Additionally, he studied under Renaud Capuçon at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne, where he obtained a Master’s degree in Solo Performance. He also explored chamber music under the guidance of esteemed professors such as François Salque, Jérôme Pernoo, Nobuko Imai, Pamela Frank, and Sadao Harada at the Seiji Ozawa International Academy of Chamber Music.
He is the laureate of numerous prestigious international awards, including the Ginette Neveu International Competition (2007), the Rodolfo Lipizer International Competition (2009), the Grand Prize at the Isaac Stern International Competition in Shanghai (2022), First Prize at the Jeune Talent d’Île-de-France (2007), the Audience Prize at the Festival Musical d’Automne des Jeunes Interprètes (2012), First Grand Prize at the European Young Talents Competition Un Violon sur le Sable (2014), the Banque Populaire Foundation Prize (2016), the Fondation de France Prize (2017), and the L’Or du Rhin Foundation Prize (2018), among others.
Thomas Lefort has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, the Ural Philharmonic Orchestra, the Romanian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of Padua, the Orchestre Pasdeloup, the Île-de-France Youth Orchestra, the Ostinato Orchestra, the Orchestre des Pays de la Loire, the Regional Orchestra of Cannes-Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, the National Orchestra of Avignon-Provence (…), under the baton of conductors such as Jean-Claude Casadesus, Dmitri Liss, Lawrence Foster, Alain Altinoglu, Bruno Mantovani, Adrian McDonell, Roberto Fores Veses, Nicolas Chalvin, Jonathan Schifmann, Chloé Dufresne, Julien Leroy (…).
He has performed in prestigious venues such as the Philharmonie de Paris, Salle Gaveau, Salle Cortot, Salle Pleyel, Théâtre du Châtelet, the Louis Vuitton Foundation, the Banque de France, Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Stravinsky Auditorium in Montreux, the Yekaterinburg Philharmonic, the Palazzetto Bru Zane in Venice, the Grand Amphitheater of La Sorbonne, the Singer-Polignac Foundation, the Théâtre de Provence, the Théâtre d’Avignon, the National Theater of Saint-Nazaire, the Théâtre de Nîmes, the Marseille Opera (…).
He has also appeared in festivals such as the Martha Argerich Festival in Hamburg, the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, the International Festival Les Sommets du Classique in Crans-Montana, the Salon Romantique Festival at the Palazzetto Bru Zane in Venice, the Folles Journées in Nantes and Yekaterinburg, the Aix-en-Provence Easter Festival, the La Roque d’Anthéron Festival, the Chopin Festival in Nohant, the Un Violon sur le Sable Festival, and the Menton Festival (…).
He has already shared the stage with numerous artists, including Martha Argerich, Andreï Korobeinikov, Pierre-Yves Hodique, Yves Henry, Sélim Mazari, Itamar Golan, Vanessa Benelli-Mosell, Tanguy de Williencourt, Ivry Gitlis, Renaud Capuçon, Tedi Papavrami, Akiko Suwanai, Gilles Apap, Lucienne Renaudin-Vary, Benedict Kloeckner, Edgar Moreau, Astrig Siranossian, and Emmanuel Rossfelder (…).
His first album, titled Folk, was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Patrick & Ute Petit Scholarship. It features a duo program with pianist Pierre-Yves Hodique (winner of the Best Collaborative Pianist Prize at the 2011 Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow) and was released in 2019 under the Mirare label. The album showcases pieces “that built the reputation of the princes of the bow” (Cadences), and “with generous phrasing and rich tonal colors, he demonstrates confidence, refined sensitivity, and undeniable technical assurance—a style devoid of exaggeration or unnecessary effects, serving the spirit of each piece with unwavering commitment” (Diapason).
Recently, he released his second solo album, Il Violino Solo (2023), featuring works by Paganini, Bach, and Ernst.
Thomas Lefort has also contributed to the soundtracks of several films composed by Grégoire Hetzel, including L’Innocent (2022), directed by Louis Garrel; Frère et Sœur (2022) and Tromperie (2021), directed by Arnaud Desplechin; as well as the Canal+ series Paris 1900 (2021).
He is the co-founder and artistic director of the festival Les Étoiles du Classique in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, which was sponsored by Martha Argerich in 2022 and by Jean-Claude Casadesus and Karine Deshayes in 2023. The festival brings together the finest classical musicians of the new generation for four festive open-air days, making classical music accessible to all.
He teaches violin at the École Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot. He plays a replica of an Antonio Stradivari violin, Le Tivadar Nachéz (1709), crafted by Stephan Von Baehr.
Thomas Lefort © 2025. All rights reserved.
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